What was the Weird Light under Mercedes' Car? Australian GP
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- čas přidán 13. 04. 2022
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Don’t know if you were too awake for the Australian GP, but if you were - you would have spotted this bright light below Lewis Hamilton’s car. And it’s interesting stuff - really showing that Mercedes are still trying to fully understand their car.
It’s well known that Mercedes are still trying to get down to the weight limit - with many people estimating that they are nearly 10 kilograms overweight. They even went over the car and chose areas to cut back on paint, saving them about 350 kilograms.
So why did they then bolt on this shiny sensor that weighs about 1.5 kilos? Is it worth taking Lewis’ car further overweight?
Lewis said this just after Qualifying - “I’ve got something on my car which makes the car a little heavier… hopefully, it will enable the team to gather more information from the race tomorrow”
So what are they trying to measure? And will it pay off?
From what we know, Mercedes have a couple of main issues. Porpoising (which we’ll get to), weight and drag.
Starting with drag, Toto has admitted that you can go cutting back wing angles and other downforce (but also drag) producing elements - but that leaves them with less downforce than other teams. Not ideal.
They can recoup this, but only by dropping the ride height - which then sparks off their porpoising issues. So that is the problem, they need to figure out their porpoising issues to then increase downforce and cut back on drag.
So it’s an issue that compounds. The car bounces and the drivers struggle to drive on the limit and the balance is all over the place - so you raise the car up but that comes with its own performance penalty. You decrease downforce from the floor - so have to compensate with draggy downforce from the wings.
You can actually see it, look at the front wing of Charles, then Lewis. And it’s the same for the rear wing. The difference is pretty huge.
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#F1 #Formula1 #Hamilton - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Legit thought it was just a trapped spark from the skidtray. They spark so often that having a slightly larger piece get stuck and stay hot from the friction made sense. Honestly, not sure which is more exciting: burning fury stuck to the car from insane forces, or an optical sensor glowing underneath an F1 car.
Yeah me too. Especially when Im thinking I remembered seeing that on RBs car too...
No chance. Any piece stuck would be air cooled.
Guess I was right..
@@jkliao6486 While it would be cooled, the forces at 150mph with such high friction would overcome the air cooling. That's why we see sparks so frequently. They only last a few seconds because of cooling, but under constant load the spark would remain until any piece of debris was burned away to nothing if it was trapped under load.
More than just the Mercedes had this I thought it was just heated metal also where the sparks came from
I saw that and thought it was just the front of the plank getting hot from hitting the ground.
At first I thought it was a light then I thought it was also just a spark...
do they still have a plank?
@@Joe2328 no plank... I assumed it was one of the titanium blocks running against the ground for so long. They're the things they brought it to create all the artificial sparks.
I thought it was a titanium block glowing hot also, the colour was about right fod that.
@@Joe2328 sorry, no. Not the traditional plank that they used to run. But they have titanium blocks at a couple of places to protect the floor from contact with the track…and to create sparks 😂
2:47 "look at the front wing of Charles and then Lewis"
Quickly flashes up two pictures from completely different angles and distances.
Like yeah, when I pause and rewatch I can see what you're talking about. But it would work so much better visually if you put them side by side and left them up on screen for a bit longer.
This channel is great, but most videos really lack in these simple explanatory graphics that would really help make the point.
Unfortunately they are limited by what images they can use. Blame FOM for that, although things are much better than they used to be when Bernie was in charge
Infographics!
It's not very hard to see the difference. The angle could be 30* different and you'd see it, as far as distance those 2 pictures really arnt that far off. It's not like one picture has the wing a quarter the size of the other. I found it quite easy to see the difference
I would imagine that getting this sort of "direct" data from the car, rather than "inferred" data from the suspension will also allow Mercedes (or whoever) develop their in-house simulator better to give more "real world" results. When your simulator gives you the same numbers/times as the actual car, then you can make some tweaks in the simulator, adding or subtracting stiffness to the floor or ride height, and know that the results should give you reasonable clarity for what the real car will do. Very interesting, I knew F1 was technically very sophisticated, but never really imagined that it could get this far. Wow, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
The wind tunnel... But the velocity is not big enough to simulate porpoising... I highly doubt the simulator will help for that matter
I'd been wondering about the Simulator Tech Race...because whenever it comes to F1, one can only imagine what they'll come up with... IJS
Yep. The more accurate the simulation the more accurate the AI.
Accurate simulation allows hundreds of thousands of tests under a machine learning strategies to yield optimal designs/setups.
Very interesting to observe how fast they will be able to resolve their issues.
Obviously the internal goal is always to be leading at Mercedes, not matter what they say :D
The rules should been introduced gradually for me
@@michaelhickland4450 why, and more importantly how? Just so merc can’t f up massively
@@Ben-go1iq the rules should been introduced gradually for me
I pray every day for never as answer to your question.
That light was not just on the Merc, I think I saw it on Checo's RB too.
Exactly
Yeah noticed those in Jeddah too I think
Definitely I was googling it right after the race trying to find some chat about what it might be but found nothing so assumed it must just have been the low setting sun catching a metallic bit on the floor. Glad I wasn't going nuts!
They’re not the only ones looking to improve.
Yes saw it in checos
its to show that the magnet is on so they dont fall upwards in aus
Thanks so much Driver61 foe getting me into F1. I've been into cars for years, my dad and my brother bond over it. I originally found a couple videos you made on rally driving, then pikes peak. They were so interesting I checked out your Formula 1 videos. I've been watching F1 since the start of this season and I'm having a lot of fun learning more about it. Keep up the great content.
Welcome to the F1 family!
If the technical aspect of F1 is your kind of cup of tea, Might i direct your attention towards Chain Bear. His F1 videos are incredibly informative
@@ZeeMotto just looked at his channel. Looks like my cup for sure
If you watched any of the NASCAR pre-season runs of their new car, you might have noticed the same sensors being used at various test venues. They were usually mounted under one of the rear corners, so it looked like someone had put a flashlight in the fender behind a rear tire pointing straight down at the track.
Napcar…
who cares about nascar and its even dying out.
@@parabelluminvicta8380 yes. And no. It's not as popular as the 90s but it certainly has started improved since last year
@@parabelluminvicta8380 yes. Nascar is more like DEATHCAR.
@@scuckplexity 👍
that light is the "Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keep Assist" laser
From the road cars? Lol 😂
@@aimanazrie8944 avoid porpoising and helps records car performance
Wrong, it is the air conditioning indicator!
Lance Stroll needs that on his car
@@LPChipi it's a level sensor for the rain light fluid
Looking forward to Merc, McLaren and RB to fix their issues, I would love to see a 4 way fight with all cars at their best.
Great informative video 61
mclaren wont be near the front this season tho
I hope so...Mc Laren at least cause some disturbance to the top teams will be good....
McLaren are always in a vicious cycle with their development. They go from having really bad cars to building great cars with potential to challenge for podiums and wins, then the next car after goes back to square 1
Reason to be happy in life, I'm not the engineer in Mercedes that have to solve that problem when everybody is watching and pressuring.
@@natashakuzmanoska9656 tell you what…..if he/she solves it….I hope Merc gives them one heck of a pay rise lol
02:32 Except for Leclerc, he doesn't care xD " I’m not here to have a car that is comfortable, I’m here to have a fast car"
its easier to say, if they have the least porpoising issue.
@@lattepus7888 lol, maybe search CZcams for Ferrari bouncing, because they have it almost the same as Mercedes, only difference is they don’t get it as much during the corners. The cars I have seen the least bouncing is Red Bull & McLaren
@@Mandykiss4500 i SAID bigger issue, not bigger boucing.. ferrari have the highest amplitude in last AUS GP. but it was least concerning, because it happened in higher speed, maybe in the end of straight. meanwhile Mercedes already porpoising in slower speed, even in fast corner.. thats the real ISSUE.
@@Mandykiss4500 I think Ferraris porpoising is different from the others. I think they get less of it as the race goes on because the car is reducing weight as the race goes on (bull burning fuel) so as the race goes on their porpoising isn’t bad/ there at all
Enjoyed that. 👌Very informative. You guys do an amazing job explaining these technical and engineering issues. Thank you so much. Keep up the good work 👏🏽
Saw it under Sergio Perez's car the other race
Me too, just yesterday I was searching Google and couldn't find any answer
Me too. Near the end of the race I saw it. I wonder if they were turning it on and off.
@@nickburak7518 i also saw it under Lanzhu Zhong's #97 HRC F1 car on lap 45. Did she turn it off?
@@purwantiallan5089 that's some detail! I don't know
Glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a glowing skid plate. Apparently everyone did lol
same bruh :D
Why didnt George have one strapped on too?
@@scroopynooperz9051 Good question. Maybe it was costly (weight) to run so did it with the "better" driver?
@@scroopynooperz9051 my take is that, they only need 1 car to carry the extra sensors to get the data, george meanwhile, his car might carry on different setup..mercs doing whatever they can to get more data without compromising too much on race performance.
I was wondering what that was! Thanks for the fantastic video, keep up the great work!
Great video. Excellent explanation of many technical details that we all love
Didn't even notice that! Nice catch!
Scott, whatever sponsor you have I'll gladly watch the whole thing and support you. Thanks for your content!
Loving these videos very informative thank you
They’re being very proactive, unlike some other teams. They’re focusing on the long-term and it’ll really benefit them.
Listen to what you're saying... They are behind other teams who did this "long term" thing you're on about a year or two ago. You're taking nonsense.
In the video Scarbs already said that LOTS of teams are doing this. Teams have run them in testing and Alpha Tauri even in races. So Mercedes is late to the party. Every car porpoises some more than others and every team is looking at solutions long term.
@@georgeb9088 not like merc. Their package is rubbish, but they’re good at improving it.
@@w.e.s9711 look how poorly your comment aged.
Wow! They're doing so much more than I thought there! Thank you so much for a very insightful video. ♥️
It's a kistler correvit sensor to measure longitudinal and latitudinal speeds and slip angle, doesn't quite use the same principle as optical mice as mice essentially use a high-speed camera to detect movement of points where as this uses an analog optical system. The light simply illumitates the surface to see points of contrast better. It also has the CPU which has a high accuracy IMU
I am quite looking forward to the engineering and setup solutions that Mercedes devise to solve the porpoising problem and therefore unlock the performance of the W13. Needless so say there will be numerous meetings, I hope they are able to manufacturer some parts in time for Imola.
I think imola will probably be too soon. More than anything else it is a sprint weekend which means they only have one practice session before qualifying and having to put the cars in parc ferme. However I guess that leaves two practice sessions where they can test things out as there isn't any setup changes they can do. My understanding is they are aiming for Barcelona for big upgrades
@@benfulford3943 that's it. With they budget cap and so on, I also think they are timing when and where they need to bring the updated parts so they can make a total update instead of wasting time and resources doing unnecessary update.
Its going to be interesting how much Lewis can learn to drive it better too. Its not just about the team setting the car up better though thats clearly the bulk of the issue. The info might tell Lewis how he has to steer or brake to get the most out of it as it is as well, because clearly someone else is doing a better job with the car than he is...
The merc era has passed its time for another team to rise up and dominate , it's happend to every team on top before and will happen to Mercedes
To paraphrase James Vowels from their Debrief on YT from yesterday: "The two cars [Georges & Hamiltons] were within a few grams of each other, on the FIA weighbridge after the race"
LeL
That is down to fuel usage.
I enjoyed this. Thanks for the information. Nobody else (that I've seen) has mentioned what that light was for.
No sidepods
10 kg heavier
[Physics has left the chat]
A very interesting and informative report, thank you.
The same light was used by Torro Rosso in 2017 particularly in the Bahrain GP
I noticed this on a couple of other cars, i dont remember which but its quite interesting to see this!
Great video. I bet the solution will be some kind of contouring on the underside of the floor but how you design that is one for the geniuses
It's the Check Engine, possibly for a misfire
I saw that and was thinking what is that. Thanks for the video
Checo had the same during FP3
Thank you for this vid. I saw the light and didn't know what it was. I thought it was never going to be answered
Even more impressive that Lewis had more pace thrmey george then with the added weight. Also show how much Lewis helps with developing this car hope it pays off soon
I thought it was perhaps the edges of the titanium skid block getting hot, as quite a few of the cars in Melbourne threw up a lot of sparks, and glowing skid blocks on the front of the floor
Seen the same exsct thing on perez too during the race
We seen the same years ago with Toro Rossos, mostly in night races
It kinda surprising with the porpoising, drag, higher ride, drag and being overweight the mercs are still comfortably 3 fastest kinda makes you wonder how fast they will be when they fix there isues
Lowkey think we’ll see a 3 way fight for wins come the middle of the season
Same can be said for Ferrari although they are still the fastest
true, the engine must be epic this year
@@thes7754 Ferraris Yes
Dont think thats an easy fix...they will probably struggle the whole season...people are just used to them being quick...
Thanks for covering this item for no word was said. I thought I had dozed off and dreamed of seeing a spark that wouldn't burn out, lol!
LH car was using sensors in Melbourne to get some data on the porpoising issues and it also gave LH car a small weight cost with the sensors compared to GR car.
I actually noticed this first on the RB. It was much later I saw it on the Merc'.
I love how you put that status bar for the ad so I know when to stop skipping. It's the little things.
I saw this too in previous years on some other teams but they were purple ish back then
My favorite F1 channel, focused on fact, not conjecture or gossip. Good Show, literally!
Have too say this channel blows The Race & other similar ones out the water
Hi Scott, I notice a red spot under your left eye, I hope you are fine. By the way I really appreciate the great content that you post and you really enlighten this season of F1
I thought it was some material glowing hot with friction. Just like the sparks, but not falling off. Thanks for this video.
👍🏽 very informative
Driver 61 - “I don’t know if you were awake for the Australian GP”
Australians - “I don’t know if you were awake for the other 90% of GP’s”
Yeah man ,going to work on Monday morning after staying up for any GP is hell 🤣
It was there on the RBR too.
I thought it was a heat patch from skidding along like it was so it was a light? Thanks for clearing that up as I was wondering if lewis going to have a fire.
Saw something similar on checos redbull during qualifying
I saw something similar on the red bulls in practice or Qually before the race
At first I thought it was just from the sparks generated when the floor hits circuit
Once they figure porpoising issues, then they can work on the power train, the fact Perez walked Hamilton shows the lack of power even if it is more reliable. Also benefits the other Mercedes’ powered teams
Yes engines are frozen so not much to work there
naa ure wrong. They are slow cuz of drag not cuz of the engine. When they can driver hte car lower they can remove wings and get some more top speed
you can spot the same light on the last race of past year too, will be more easy to see in q3 when they put in slow motion mercedes hamilton.
Great video, as always!
James Vowles has talked about this in the latest race debrief on Merc's channel. He also said that the two cars were actually within a few gramms of each other in terms of weight.
i seen it on perez's reb bull before the merc when he was driving in the shadows overcast by the trees
I saw it! But I thought it was a residual item still burning from the area that sparks under high speed load.Thx...
I remember seeing a similar sensor on Ricciardo's car as well.
Could you make a video on bump stops and why they're either not allowed or not used? It seems like a pretty simple solution to the porpoising issue, but I'm sure there's a good reason not to have them. I'd love to learn more and haven't heard them being talked about at all.
I saw the same light under Sergio car, I thought it was spark.
Totally thought it was a glowing spark too!
also saw this on the redbul, right after they were sparking away
would a stiffer suspension help?
I may be mistaken but probably RB SP11 also used a light under the car during this weekend
If they have added more sensors, I expect more interesting are pressure and air speed sensors under the car, that's something they cannot measure from suspension.
Very interesting, thanks 👍
It's a laser weapon to take out Max.
I wonder you know, I wonder if they've got an active suspension system of sorts in the plans
Thought it was a lump leaves. Its autumn down here is Australia
I saw a similar light on the Red Bulls during free practice runs..
Red bull cars had one on to not sure if it was both but definitely had a light underneath in the same place
… I am hoping it is ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ ! 😉
There was a similar light on the red bull in practice 1, I too thought was a trapped spark from a skid plate. Isn’t this a form of active suspension (potentially)!!!!!
Thanks for the video.
imo they need cuts on the edge of the floor (creating votrecies "cushion" so strong the car will bounce off of them not the ground).
That is much smaller loss than raising the ride height.
It’s getting crazy in terms of the Kevlar surfaces mimicking the aero models.
I'm still convinced that this "light" we're seeing is just a glowing titanium skid block. Both times when it was visible (RB car in Q1, and when HAM overtook ALO in the race), the cars had just bottomed out really hard at high speed. The titanium skid blocks should have enough mass to keep glowing for 5 seconds or so. This explains why the "light" is only seen after bottoming out and not through the rest of the race/sessions.
I'm not doubting that the teams are running RH sensors, I just don't think this is what we're seeing in this example.
Titanium doesnt really glow though. When its that hot it tends to turn into a sparkler, shedding mass
@@GonzoDonzo I'm not sure what alloy is used for the skid blocks, but some are suitable for high temperature applications. Regardless, your point seems to be demonstrated when Hamilton overtakes Alonso in the race. Immediately after the car bottoms out and the "light" starts glowing, it also sheds sparks like a sparkler for a couple of seconds. Then it dims a bit and quits shredding sparks, then a couple of corners later it's not glowing anymore (and doesn't glow for the rest of the race).
a team of motor racing drivers and engineers just told you what it was??
I saw the light during the race, but I only saw it after Lewis was making a pass on the front straight. During that pass, he was scraping severely down the whole straight. So much so, you could see the marks left on the front straight for the rest of the race…I thought for sure the light was the undertray just extremely hot from the scraping, not a laser but I guess I could be wrong.
Maybe MB AMG needs to follow F by using the body as an element for down force. Like some aircraft using fuselage as airfoil.
I noticed it on the Red Bull as well.
Maybe this is a stupid question hut would it be possible to fill compartments with helium (or even have them under vacuum if strong enough) to help reduce weight? I've heard people joke about helium tyres but that sounds like a great way to reduce mass
I thought I was seeing things when I saw this on TV. I was like, "Is that a light underneath the car? Nah, they must just be sparking a whole lot."
Pretty sure we seen that light under tea tray on cars last year sometimes too
I did notice the light. I thought I was seeing things. I figured it was some sort of sensor, but 1.5kg?
I also saw that on Sergio's car 🤔
It’s not just ride height. It’s measuring oscillations and frequency. You would normally tune out the control occultations ( porpoising) out with a PID Controller . Now as far as I know they run on coil springs and shock absorbers. Maybe the shock absorbers are smart so you can tune the rate of rise and fall.
They can't have "smart" shock absorbers, they were banned when they banned any form of active suspension
If i remember correctly, saw the same in Checo's car too...
I noticed this during the race and don’t know what it was, thought it could be a sensor but don’t know what for
When i saw it first time thought was a spark then saw it again and thought something is heated or burning
I saw it on the Red Bull too though.
It’s gonna get REAL COMPETITIVE by the end of the season is what you’re saying 😂 I want a 3 way battle for the Championship!!!
Mercedes are obviously missing that extra budget that they used to have to buy top Aero design and wind tunnel time. Glad to see them on a more level playing field than before and having to duke it out … great year so far !
They have the least amount of the grid, but once they fix the porpoising, they will go to the front again, and fight for wins.
When I saw the light under the car during the race I thought that Lewis had run over some carbon fibre and it was stuck, burning away.
It's definitely an interesting problem they have, can't wait to see the cars when the issue is sorted.
I noticed that too
I have to say this is a really good Video, you have taken a complicated topic and broken it down so that everyone understands it, while also leaving many small details in the video, great respect.
I won't be surprised if Mercedes suddenly pushes to win the championship towards the end of the season.
I will be surprised tho!
Spending cap will make it tough though. When completing against Ferrari who have a head start and will have more money left over for upgrades and further development.
lmao there's no way Mercedes win this year. Ferrari showed their hand in Australia and they're significantly faster despite them suffering from porpoising too
@@KepleroGT Yeah maybe I'm crazy haha
@@KepleroGT Ferrari and Mercedes don’t have the same porpoising issues, Ferrari are porpoising on the straights making it redundant in terms of lap time, Mercedes are porpoising through corners, significantly reducing their cornering speed.
I saw a glow and thought it was metal glowing white hot from rubbing the pavement as with all the sparks as well.